Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Slight and Not So Slight Changes

I took an older 30x60 panel and after under-painting over the original image, painted a new work. I was surprised at how dense the paint looks as it is very thin layers of oil and wax.

This one always bothered me during the last show as the red was so intense and did not let the other colors have their own importance so I muted the red, added a new green lightly over the greens, and toned down the clouds so that the white along the bottom comes forward.

Artist Statement by Robert Canaga

A painter commits part of the soul to canvas, but this is not a subtractive process for me. I grow when I put these images out into the world. I gain knowledge of myself when I complete a painting, so each work leads to the next like completing a puzzle.

I’m a purist when it comes to color; I carry precise colors in my mind’s eye. The windows of my studio do not reveal the surrounding landscape, because I deliberately decided not to be influenced by the external, Pacific Northwest palette. I’m fascinated by color frequencies and how those frequencies relate to each other.

Several times in my life, I’ve been very close to my own death. These experiences, and my art, taught me to fully stand in the moment, where there is no time, and everything happens at once.